Passes the Bechdel test
Man on a Ledge
2012. Directed by Asger Leth, written by Pablo F. Fenjves.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 244. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
An ex-cop-turned-con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel. The nearest New York Police Officer immediately responds to a screaming woman and calls dispatch. More officers arrive with SWAT and tactical command along with firefighters. The police then dispatch a police psychologist personally requested to talk him down from the ledge. However, things aren't as they seem.
- Released
- 27 Jan 2012
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 40 / 100
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Lydia 163 lines, woman
- Nick 148 lines, man
- Joey 87 lines, man
- Marcus 83 lines, man
- Angie 55 lines, woman
- Dougherty 48 lines, man
- Mike 47 lines, man
- Englander 40 lines, man
- Elena Morales 18 lines, woman
- Bauer 9 lines, man
Full cast, 54 people
- Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy
- Elizabeth Banks as Lydia Mercer
- Jamie Bell as Joey Cassidy
- Anthony Mackie as Mike Ackerman
- Edward Burns as Jack Dougherty
- Genesis Rodriguez as Angie
- Ed Harris as David Englander
- Titus Welliver as Dante Marcus
- Kyra Sedgwick as Suzie Morales
- J. Smith-Cameron as Psychiatrist
- Robert Clohessy as Prison Guard
- Mandy Gonzalez as Manager
- William Sadler as Valet
- Afton Williamson as Janice Ackerman
- Jonathan Walker as Investor
- Daniel Sauli as Police Technician
- Barbara Marineau as Screaming Woman
- Patrick Collins as Father Leo
- Joe Lisi as Desk Sergeant
- Candice McKoy as Cop - Bullhorn
- Johnny Solo as Cop - Room
- James Yaegashi as Police Technician
- Frank Pando as Cameraman
- Jason Kolotouros as ESU
- Michael Laurence as Bearded Guy
- Don Castro as CSI Tech
- Pooja Kumar as Englander's Assistant
- John Dossett as Ted Henry
- Sylvia Kauders as Angry Traffic Woman
- Felix Solis as Nestor
- Jabari Gray as Brooklyn Cop
- James Andrew O'Connor as Brooklyn Cop
- Ann Arvia as Investor
- Liz Holtan as Lady
- Jason Furlani as Cop
- Terry Serpico as Lutz
- Erin Quill as Cop
- Arthur J. Nascarella as Construction Worker
- Jimmy Palumbo as Detective
- J. Bernard Calloway as Detective
- Gerry Vichi as Older Orthodox Man
- Geoffrey Cantor as Gordon Evans
- Brett G. Smith as Tactical Leader
- John Comer as Correction Officer
- Frank Anello as NYPD Officer (uncredited)
- Justin Chauncey as Construction Worker
- Marmee Regine Cosico as Pedestrian
- Jeff Grossman as Brooklyn Cop
- Cal Koury as News Photographer
- Derrick T. Lewis as Pedestrian
- Mario Moise Fontaine as Photographer
- Rick Pantera as New York Police Officer
- Brian James Pepe as Inmate
- Bill Walters as Inmate
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 244
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 6 | 4 | 4 |
| 7 to 12 | 4 | 2 |
| 13 to 18 | 2 | 38 |
| 19 to 24 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 to 30 | 1 | 9 |
| 31 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 48 | 6 | 19 |
| 49 to 54 | 4 | 11 |
| 55 to 60 | 7 | 11 |
| 61 to 66 | 22 | 40 |
| 67 to 72 | 16 | 30 |
| 73 to 78 | 3 | 8 |
| 79 to 84 | 8 | 7 |
| 85 to 90 | 9 | 9 |
| 91 to 96 | 4 | 3 |
| 97 to 102 | 5 | 8 |
| 103 to 108 | 17 | 23 |
| 109 to 114 | 10 | 16 |
| 115 to 120 | 8 | 22 |
| 121 to 126 | 2 | 4 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 14 |
| 133 to 138 | 0 | 2 |
| 139 to 144 | 0 | 6 |
| 145 to 150 | 6 | 11 |
| 151 to 156 | 10 | 17 |
| 157 to 162 | 19 | 19 |
| 163 to 168 | 4 | 12 |
| 169 to 174 | 8 | 6 |
| 175 to 180 | 7 | 15 |
| 181 to 186 | 13 | 16 |
| 187 to 192 | 6 | 15 |
| 193 to 198 | 3 | 10 |
| 199 to 204 | 3 | 16 |
| 205 to 210 | 2 | 9 |
| 211 to 216 | 1 | 6 |
| 217 to 222 | 2 | 18 |
| 223 to 228 | 0 | 0 |
| 229 to 234 | 11 | 19 |
| 235 to 240 | 7 | 32 |
| 241 to 244 | 17 | 19 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
LYDIA: That sounds like a horrible feeling. ANGIE: Fire extinguisher! CO2 fire extinguisher!
ANGIE: Hell yes! LYDIA: I’m just going to assume that’s a family heirloom.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 32 are women's.
251 lines from women, 534 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 35 men in the cast. 7 women and 25 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 28 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 31% of the words (1,929), men 69% (4,227). Women have 32% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
6
Two men
60
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Asger Leth (man)
- Written by
- Pablo F. Fenjves (man)
- Produced by
- Mark Vahradian (man), Lorenzo di Bonaventura (man)
- Shot by
- Paul Cameron (man)
- Edited by
- Kevin Stitt (man)
- Music by
- Henry Jackman (man)
- Production design by
- Alec Hammond (man)
- Costumes by
- Susan Lyall (woman)
- Cast by
- Deborah Aquila (woman), Ross Meyerson (man), Tricia Wood (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
10 women, 26 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 6 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 40 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Genesis Rodriguez 24, Elizabeth Banks 37, Kyra Sedgwick 46, J. Smith-Cameron 54
Men
Jamie Bell 25, Anthony Mackie 33, Sam Worthington 35, Edward Burns 43, Titus Welliver 49, Ed Harris 61
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $42 million
- Box office
- $46.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 244 scenes and 808 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
